Robots on legs are hilariously bad at running marathons

Robots and humans raced against each other at a half-marathon on April 19th in Beijing.

21 robots trotted around the 13.1-mile course in a first-of-its-kind clash between human and machine.

I spend a borderline-healthy amount of free time training for long-distance races like half and full marathons. Right now, I’m training for a long-distance triathlon in Roth, Germany, this Summer. So I was fascinated to learn about the race.

Could a robot finally beat a human?

The rules for the robots entering were clear: resemble a human (they interpreted that one liberally) and walk or run the course (no wheels permitted).

The leading robot crossed the finish line after a rather unimpressive 2 hours and 40 minutes. It stopped for a battery charge… three times. A few robots gave up navigating the course and only finished after their operator guided them home… with leashes. Most didn’t finish.

Jiang Guangzhi, director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, told AP:

“Some robots may not run elegantly or fall over and that’s normal. We’re still testing various technical approaches.”